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Monday, January 31, 2011
Women's health and artistry...
In our examinations of Chopin's novel, we've examined some of the ways in which Edna resides in a cultural margin. How does the culture in which she lives correlate her "health" status to her compliance with cultural codes of/expectations for women's behavior? As she delves more deeply into "art" and music in the middle third of the book, what is the consequence on her health? From her husband's perspective? From the doctor's? From outside observers'? From the narrator's?
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Edna's culture regards her explicit compliance with predetermined social etiquette as a measure of her mental and physical health. This view is demonstrated by her husband's postulation that she might have fallen ill when turning down visitors during her normal "courting" hours. Her doctor on the other hand, having been trained professionally to diagnose illnesses, realizes that her abnormal behavior is instead due to an emotional or even existential dilemma. He, though, fails to realize her commitment to this "break-away" from cultural normality and discards her strange acts as nothing more than a phase. Her aforementioned commitment, being a deeply involving emotional and educational practice as most art forms are, tends to draw her further away from society as she heightens her skill. The end result of this continual practice, at the cost of social etiquette, is possibly foreshadowed by the social state of Mademoiselle Reisz who, at the expense of cultural approval, strives to continually practice and perfect her art form.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Christian's comment about how Edna's culture creates a predetermined social etiquette for her. When Edna begins taking more of an interest in her art, it seems as though she becomes "healthier" in the way that she becomes happier and more content with herself. However, this at this time her husband, and many outside observers, thinks she is acting odd due to illness, but, like Christian said, the doctor can tell she has a dilemma with herself that is not a physical illness.
ReplyDeleteEdna's health and "awakening" is very dependent on the environment she is in. As she exists in more "restrictive" environments (the city vs. the island), she reacts adversely to the societal role thrust upon her by almost voluntarily harming her "health": she cancels her Tuesday dates, she isolates herself from her children, her friends, and her husband. Only when she becomes exposed to more art and music does she break out of this seemingly destructive habit and starts intermixing with people that are not defined by societal roles that she finds restrictive (i.e. Madmoiselle Reisz, the single woman who plays beautiful music, or Arobin, a bachelor infamous for flirting with married women). Her husband understandably believes there is something "wrong" with her; he is extremely comfortable with his role and is quite expectant to see his wife fulfill hers. The doctor, who has most likely seen something like this before, is quite aware that women are capable of at least acting independent and this "illness" is most likely from emotion, not from something physical. An outsider might share a similar view as Edna's husband, since it must have been extremely rare to see a woman in a high society position almost completely slough off their old persona and so quickly find another.
ReplyDeleteGiven the cultural reaction to Edna's "outrageous" behavior, it can be inferred that her culture deems following certain societal rules a healthy and fulfilling way to live life. Therefore, when Edna acts out contrary to society, in the form of taking interest in art and music, they immediately put into question her health and mental stability. As a seemingly suitable provider, according to aristocratic standards, Edna's husband also adopts society's criticisms of Edna's behavior and questions her motives for rejecting such a luxurious and perfect lifestyle which he has provided her. The doctor, on the other hand, is sufficiently intuitive enough to determine that it is not collapse of Edna's mental health that is bringing about her sudden changes but, rather, a desire within Edna to escape the stiff and restricting social confines of her everyday life. An outside observer would most likely view Edna's reactions as a product of such emotionally harsh living conditions. Without an outlet for any kind of spontaneously romantic feelings, it seems natural that Edna, a passionate and unique woman for her time, would want to reject the holds society has on her, trading her somewhat dull life for a life of emotional and personal adventure.
ReplyDeleteDuring Edna's awakening, her mental health is perceived radically differently by different observers. Her husband, who wishes for Edna to conform to social norms, believes her awakening is really a sign of major mental health issues. Meanwhile the doctor, who it is implied has seen similar transformations of wives behavior before, somewhat misplaces Edna's changes as a result of new sexual desire. While it can definitely be concluded that Edna's awakening is brought on by her desire for Robert, her evolution is not purely one of sexual desire, rather personal exploration. To me, her feelings toward Robert were just a trigger for her revolution, although that is a discussion for a different time. The book doesn't give us a lot of insight into what outside observers think of Edna. What we can see is that Edna's husband is attempting damage control, and others in the society around Edna think her behavior is slightly unusual, but not a symptom of serious mental health issues. Since Edna is clearly seen as a member of the upper echelon of her society when she goes wandering around the city we don't see comments on her sanity or state, for that would be impolite, rather just attempts to impress. Unfortunately the narrator gives no direct insight into her thoughts on Edna's mental state. Given the tone of the tale we can interpret that the changes Edna undergoes are supported by the narrator and author as an improvement of her person. The interpretation of Edna's changes over time however must be adapted to the conclusion of the story wherein Edna takes her own life. This act could be interpreted in many different lights, but the two most relevant for our purposes are that it is a symbol for there being no place for her to live in the society in her new found level of consciousness, or that it is a sign that there were truly mental health issues that the narrator neglected to describe which led Edna to take her own life.
ReplyDeleteEdna is basically seen as a lady who has lost her mind as she continues to go against the social mores of her time. Her husband thinks she is crazy, the doctor thinks that she is simply going through a phase but fears that her "phase" has something to do with a possible relationship with another man outside of her marriage. As Edna continues to dive into art it would seem that she continues to further her "awakening." I must confess that I am confused as to what she is really looking for in life. Obviously she wants out of the typical female role but is she simply really bored or is she looking for more? I wonder if she is looking for love, I wonder if she even knows what she is looking for. Yes her awakening was appropriate, however, I am not sure she knows what she really wants.
ReplyDeleteThe culture in which Edna is placed correlates very strongly with her perceived mental health. Other characters tend to see her as becoming more aloof and distant, especially her husband, as her "awakening" progresses. The main exceptions to this are the doctor, which feels her progression is completely natural, and the narrator, which takes a fairly neutral point of view of the events. From Edna's perspective, she is finding her true self, and her actions are totally sane and rational, even going so far as to think that other women in her position may be slightly insane.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Julia and Cristian when they said that Ednas culture created a social etiquette for her. When she first starts to experiance the "awakenings" she does become happier and feel healther with her self, and people believe that she is ill just because they have not seen her like this before. like Cristian and Julia stated, the doctor can tell she has a dilemma with herself which in fact is not is not due to any physical illness. It is hard for the husband to accept the criticism from others about his wife being ill, while the doctor is able to see that she is not ill, rather she just want to escape the borders that people have put up for her
ReplyDeleteEdna's "health" in the beginning of the novel is good as she conforms to her place in society as well as keeps up with her duties in the home. Once Edna discovers art and all that surrounds it her health dive bombs and the side effects immediate such as rebelling, being selfish, dismissing her duties, and ultimately becoming an entirely different person. She behaves as a teenager backfiring on all the accepted norms of her life. Edna's husband is in the dark to her new found loves and is continuously left trying to figure out what has become of his wife. The doctor sees right through Edna and knows (without solid proof) she has fallen for another and her new distractions such as art is merely a cover. Of the observers near by Edna changes but much like the husband do not truly know what and or why the change. The narrator's view is that Enda is in the right through out her rebellions, discovery, and strong feminist views.
ReplyDeleteEarly on in the book Edna's health is very good. Other people view her as a model citizen for the society she lives in and this obviously correlates to her good health. As the book progresses and her "awakening" really begins to take place the opinion of the public begins to degrade. As other people have already mentioned, both her husband and the doctor are unable to understand why she has changed and even make allegations of adultery. The narrator seems to keep a positive opinion of Edna throughout all this until the inevitable event of Edna's last swim.
ReplyDeleteFrom the standpoint of society, a women’s health was depicted by a desire to care for her husband and children and to keep a socially acceptable house. Music and art were deemed appropriate for women to dabble in for entertainment, but not to master. As Edna begins to occupy herself more and more with these “entertainment” pursuits and begins to neglect her family obligations, her husband begins to question Edna’s health. When consulted by Edna’s husband, the Doctor finally comes to the conclusion that this behavior is a temporary condition, the result of moodiness, and will be resolved if Edna is left to herself for a while. Others outside her family, such as Mrs. Reisz, are encouraging of her behavior, but with reservations. Mrs. Reisz, being an artist, knows what it means to give up social interactions and obligations to pursue mastery of her musical art. Speaking from the lofty view of experience, Mrs. Reisz doubts that Edna has what it takes to shun tradition and become a true master of the arts. The narrator in this book seems to keep a fairly neutral view, speaking from Edna’s perspective, and does not go into any deep psychological evaluation of the reasons for her change in behavior.
ReplyDeleteIn the setting of the book, a woman's health is based on how well she is able to care for her family and home. When she begins to neglect both of these, here husband becomes concerned about her mental health and inform the doctor. The doctor doesn't see it as a big deal, and provides Edna's with a solution the Edna's attitude. He says to give her some space and let her do what she wants, then eventually she'll return to the way she was eariler. The narrator seems to side with Edna and her mixed feelings since she is the main character.
ReplyDeleteAt the time of writing there were less clean-cut divisions between physical and mental health, meaning that Edna's "condition," her shirking of wifely duties in favor of independence and self-expression through painting, causes her husband to express his concern to the doctor about Edna's health. The doctor, meanwhile, thinks Edna's condition stems from involvement with another man, which is not entirely off the mark. Despite her fainting earlier in the novel when she attends mass, we can conclude that her actual health is not imperiled, but rather that she's ruffled various feathers by behaving outside the social norm.
ReplyDeleteThe narrator suggests that Edna’s health was unstable. She recounts “there were days when she was very happy without knowing why …………. there were days when she was unhappy she did not know why” (80) .Mr. Pontellier believes her skewed notion on women rights is making her act unusual. (88) The doctor suspects that Edna’s distorted behavior is due to a covert affair with another man but he is not sure and he thinks Edna’s husband is ill equipped to handle such situation so he does not bring forth his suspicion to him. The doctor tries persuading the husband to make Edna go to her sister’s wedding with the hope that on seeing the traditional exchange of vows at a wedding, her conscience might work her into ending the affair. Edna herself believed that as she delved deeper into her arts and music her health improved. But delving deeper into arts and music estranged her from her family and the community as a whole. This alienation brought about new frustrations and a decline to her health. Her final swim was no surprise to the outside observers.
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